


Tell Me If You Love Me (Don't Make Me Try To Guess)

by orcas_R_beautiful



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Confused Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Jealous Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Multi, Not Beta Read, Protective James Griffin, Protective Pidge | Katie Holt, Protective Shiro (Voltron), klance is endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25837900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orcas_R_beautiful/pseuds/orcas_R_beautiful
Summary: After dating for almost six months Lance ends their relationship, breaking Keith's heart. After weeks of heartbreak Keith begins to venture into the outside world again. Not even a week later a familiar face he hasn't seen in years shows up in his regular coffee shop. When a new love interest comes into the picture Lance begins to think he's made a mistake. Will he be able to get his man back or has he lost him as anything more than friends forever?
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), James Griffin/Keith (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance/Nyma (Voltron)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 158





	1. New Barista

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Voltron or any of it's characters.

Keith walked out of his apartment building and was met with the hot air of the city. It was about two months into the summer and he was going to do his best to enjoy the time he had left before going back to his fourth year of college. He hadn’t gotten to enjoy the first part of his summer because of something that happened right after finals of last year. He’d been dating Lance McClain, his crush since his second year of college and his old roommate. 

  
  
When Keith and Lance had been assigned roommates their friends were sure that they were going to kill each other. They fought over the smallest of things and could never seem to get long. It didn’t help that Lance kept bringing random girls over and, therefore, kicking Keith out constantly. Over time though the pair began to get to know each other better and became friends.   
  
  


After the first year of being roommates they ended up staying together during their Sophomore years. Keith realized he was crushing on Lance one day when instead of just being annoyed for kicking him out to have a one night stand he also felt a mix of jealousy and sadness. 

  
  
Keith refused to believe it at first but he couldn’t deny the feelings he would get for Lance whenever the other boy was around. He was utterly hopeless, ranting to Shiro about all the little cute things Lance did and dejectedly sleeping over at Pidge’s dorm when he couldn’t sleep in his. 

Pidge and Shiro kept trying to get him to just profess his feelings but he wouldn’t do it. He’d lived with Lance for more than a year and he knew that Lance never wanted anything serious. Even Hunk had tried to get him to confess, who is Lance’s best friend and should know what a terrible idea it is. 

Keith had resigned to living a sad life where the person he probably loved would only ever see him as a friend when Lance asked him on a date during the middle of their junior year. 

  
The date started bad with them both being stilted and awkward. Thankfully once the food came it gave them something to talk about and the conversation flowed from then on. At the end of the date Lance kissed him, asking after if he would be willing to go on a second date the next Saturday, which Keith of course said yes to. 

Before Keith knew it they had been dating for six months, and it couldn’t have been any better. Keith felt like he was living his dream, going to a great college with awesome friends and an amazing boyfriend, but he should have known it wouldn’t last. 

During finals Keith noticed that Lance started pulling away slightly. Lance wouldn’t hang around with Keith as much as he used to and took longer to answer any texts or calls. At first Keith just assumed that he needed more time to himself to study and gave him space, but he learned that Lance hadn’t been pulling away from any of their other friends, just Keith. 

Finally, Lance showed up at his apartment after all of his exams and tests were graded. Keith had jumped up to hug Lance and tell him about his grades when he saw the serious look on the others face. 

He’d never seen him so serious before so he stayed quiet to let Lance talk. Easily going along when he was guided to the couch. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what happened next:

_“Look Keith, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. It’s been amazing to be with you, in the time that we’ve been together, but I think we both know that whatever we had has run its course. We were good together, yeah, but we’ve fizzled and even been more distant recently. Becoming just friends again seems like the best thing to do, for the both of us. Right?”_

Wrong. 

So wrong.

Keith had thought they were doing good, he thought they were both happy and in love but he was wrong. Lance didn’t feel the same way and he should have _known_ that Lance didn’t feel as strongly for Keith as Keith did for him. 

Still, he hid all the emotions he was feeling from his face and agreed with Lance. He ignored all the thoughts swirling through his mind about how he didn’t think he was the one distancing himself and how it wasn’t better for them to just be friends and why now of all times when they had been doing so well until just last week. 

He didn’t cry after Lance left or after he left his apartment to get on the bus. He only let himself cry after knocking on his brother's door, collapsing into Shiro’s arms. 

It took him a long time to be able to get out of the apartment and even longer to start going back to his old daily routine. The heartbreak had been too much to even get out of bed but Shiro helped him through it. 

Keith hadn’t heard from Lance since then, though Hunk and Pidge visited him every once in a while to check on him. A few days ago he started going back to his normal coffee shop, which led him to where he was now. 

The line was a bit longer than what he remembered so he passed the time by playing some games on his phone. He slowly inched up in line until the person in front of him was at the counter ordering. 

The barista that worked at the coffee shop in the morning was Axca, a girl around his age that he befriended after a year or so of continuously showing up while she was there. He never changed his order so it was expected when she stopped asking for his order every day.

It was because of this that when he looked just over his phone to see the man’s feet in front of him move towards the seating area that he didn’t bother to look up from his phone when he stepped up. 

“Hey Axca, just the regular please.” The person in front of him cleared their throat. The sound seemed deeper than what Axca’s voice would go, Keith noticed frowning in confusion.

“Axca got switched to a different shift.” Keith’s head shot up as he registered the new information. 

In front of him was a man a few inches taller than him. They had dark brown hair that fell onto their face on one side and coppery brown eyes. He wore an apron over a nice shirt and black jeans. 

He looked nice but… familiar. The man was gazing at him, looking as though he were searching Keith for something. It took a few more seconds before everything clicked in Keith’s brain. 

James Griffin. That’s why he looked so familiar. 

Griffin seemed to have come to the same realization about who Keith was because sudden;y they were both locking eyes in shock. In the end Keith was the one to break the silence. 

“Griffin..?” He hesitantly asked. He was nervous about how the barista was going to react, but Griffin just gave a small smile and spoke. 

“Hey Kogane.” 


	2. Starting Over

Keith and James had never had a good relationship. They met in middle school when Keith moved in with the Shiroganes. At first James ignored his presence and Keith kept to himself. 

That all changed one day when the two were paired up for a project in English. Neither of them could agree on what to do the project on and everything spiraled from there. They started aggressively competing, shooting dirty looks, and bickering. Often starting yelling matches, then getting into trouble. It continued the same all the way from middle school to their senior year in high school. 

This led to their biggest fight at the end of the year. James and Keith were assigned one last project together when things started to heat up again. At first the boys had just been struck with the usual annoyance and irritation, but it quickly grew. With the year almost over their patience with each other was drawn dangerously thin. 

Never had one of their confrontations led to something physical between them but when James told him how he was unlovable, even to his own mother, Keith broke. All he could feel was the pure anger and hurt from the insult while he punched James in the face. He didn’t bother sticking around after that. James ended up finishing the project for the both of them and the year ended just like that. 

Now, here was James, looking so different and yet still the exact same as when he last saw him. 

After he stumbled through an order he went to sit down at one of the booths in the back of the coffee shop. He sat in a nice spot in the corner with good lighting and a little more privacy. About five minutes later someone approached his booth. He heard the same voice from earlier clearing their throat. Glancing up he saw James, without his apron, holding two cups of coffee. 

“Can I sit? My break was supposed to be in an hour or so, but my boss said I could take it a little early today.” Keith nodded his head, silently gesturing to the seat in front of him. They sat in silence for a little bit before Keith decided to get straight to the point.

“What did you want Griffin?” He had just been able to get back to his normal life, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any hardship from James. 

“I just-” he paused to look away for a second to breathe before looking Keith straight in the eyes and continuing. “I wanted to apologize. I’ve thought a lot about what happened between us and I’m sorry. I was stupid and blurted out whatever I could to try and hurt you. That wasn’t okay, especially the last one. I would’ve never said that if I had known.” He finished off quietly. 

It took Keith a few moments to process what James had just said before he responded, “I-uh. Thanks, I’m glad to hear that you aren’t  _ that  _ much of a jerk.” Keith looked up at James with a slight smile. In return he got a huff of laughter before the boy in front of him let go of the tension he’d been holding since he sat down. 

“Why don’t we start over? I’m James Griffin, I go to VU and I work at a quaint little coffee shop.” James stuck his hand out for Keith to shake. Keith looked between him and the hand for a moment before deciding that he might as well and shook his hand. 

“Keith Kogane, I also go to VU and have an assistant job there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’d been talking for about thirty minutes now. It was like that immature kid from high school never existed. They talked about college, their jobs, their apartments. This was the most Keith had talked in a while and he found that it was really nice. 

“So, we’ve talked about what I have been doing lately, but what’ve you been up to? You haven’t said anything about what you’ve been doing during your summer.” James looked at Keith questioningly. 

Keith sighed. “I haven’t really done anything. My boyfriend broke up with me right after last semester ended. It hit me hard, I only just recently started coming back here again.” Keith said while looking out the window. He didn’t want to get into too much detail about how pathetic he had been recently. When he peeked back at James he saw him looking back with a concerned frown. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know.” After Keith waved him off he hesitantly leaned forward. “Was it someone I would know?” 

“I don’t think you know him, his name is Lance McClain?” James’ eyes widened suddenly. 

“No, I know him. He’s so annoying though! He was in one of my classes and kept interrupting my friends conversations to hit on them. All of them!” James exclaimed, visibly annoyed. Keith sighed, face palming at his ex’s lack of subtlety. 

“Yeah, that sounds like him. We dated for months when he started pulling away out of nowhere. Next thing I know he’s telling me that we’re better off being friends.” 

He fell still as all the hurt and sadness washed over him again. Before he could get too lost in the emotional pit he felt James’ hand cover his own. He looked up to see brown eyes staring at him intensely. 

“If he let you go, then he must be even more stupid than I first thought.” James spoke with such sincerity that it caught Keith off guard. He felt his face warm and knew that he was blushing. 

Looking down he whispers a soft, “Thanks James.” 

Slowly James pulled his hand away, standing up as he did. 

“My break is about to end so I should head back.” Keith nods and got up with him, picking up any trash he had on the table. “Hey, I know that we haven’t had the best experience with each other before today and that you recently went through a terrible break up, but I like you Keith. I like spending time with you and even if you don’t like me the same way or if it’s too early, I want to get to know you better. Here’s my number, you can text me any time.” 

James gave Keith a small slip of paper with a hopeful smile on his face. Keith couldn’t stop the blush that spread across his face from what James said. 

“I… I like spending time with you too James. This was fun.” 

Keith took the paper and put it in his pocket. This was the best he’s felt in a while, he couldn’t help but think to himself. 

Unexpectedly, James leaned down and kissed Keith on the cheek before speeding off to an employees only room in the back. It took about two minutes until Keith could move again. He threw away the trash in his hand, walking out of the coffee shop feeling lighter than when he first walked in. 


	3. Seeing You Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so this chapter is actually only half of what I had originally intended to be in chapter three but the word count got much higher than my other chapters so I split it into two. With that being said the next chapter is already written and will be out soon.

Keith had been avoiding going to the coffee shop for five days now. He didn’t have a problem with James, no, he actually would’ve liked to see him again. He just didn’t know what to say to him. 

It hasn’t even been two months since the only person he’d ever been in love with broke up with him! Keith doesn’t know if he’s ready to date someone else yet. Would he be able to date James without thinking of Lance? Is he over Lance? No, definitely not. But could he possibly get over him by being with this great, new guy? He doesn’t know. 

It’s been a while since Keith has seen or heard from Lance. His feelings aren’t as overwhelmingly strong as before, but they are still there. He doesn’t want to accidentally lead James on. 

On the other hand, the time he spent with the brunette made him feel normal again. Wouldn’t it be worth it to start something with James if it meant he could get out of the hole he’s been living in? He could start fresh and not have to worry about what he had done wrong or what he could have done to make Lance want to stay. 

Everything was just so confusing! Keith kept pulling out the paper with James’ number on it and then putting it away. Thoughts were swirling around his head without his consent.

_‘Is it too soon?’_

_‘If I try, is James just gonna break my heart all over again?’_

_‘Has Lance moved on alre-’_ *beep* *beep*

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Looking down Keith saw that someone had texted on the group chat Pidge made for everyone. That someone was Lance. 

**Handsome <3:**

**Guys its been so long!**

**We should hang out**

Seeing his contact for Lance, that he forgot to change, made his chest feel hollow and the air leave his lungs. He quickly changed the contact and went back to the group chat to see that some of the others had responded. 

**Pidgeon:**

**Are you sure that’s a good idea**

**Lance:**

**Of course its a good idea! It was my idea**

**Peacekeeper:**

**We could all hang out at my house?**

**Maybe play some games or watch a movie. If EVERYONE is okay with that?**

Why did Keith have a feeling that the last text from Hunk was directed towards him? He didn’t want to make anything uncomfortable or awkward by going though. 

**Pidgeon:**

**I’ll go if everyone else is going**

**Big Bro:**

**I agree with Pidge, if everyone else is for it I’ll put it in my schedule**

‘ _Well that doesn’t put any pressure on me to go. Totally not.’_ Keith thought sarcastically to himself. He honestly didn’t know if he was up for it, but if Lance was going to act like nothing had happened, he guessed he should too.

**Samurai:**

**What time**

**Lance:**

**How does tomorrow at six work for everyone**

**Samurai:**

**Just fine**

**Big Bro:**

**It works**

**Can I bring a friend**

**Peacekeeper:**

**That’s good for me too**

**Of course Shiro**

**I’ll make snacks**

**Pidgeon:**

**All good here**

**sure**

**Big Bro:**

**See you all then**

**Lance:**

**Cool see ya tomorrow**

Before he could put his phone down he got a text message from a different group chat with just Pidge and Shiro in it.

**Big Bro:**

**Keith are you sure you’re up for this?**

**Samurai:**

**I’ll be fine Shiro**

**Don’t worry about me**

**Pidgeon:**

**Says the person that JUST started going outside again**

Ouch. 

**Samurai:**

**It’s going to be fine**

**If Lance is going to act like nothing happened then why can’t I**

**Big Bro:**

**…**

**That’s not really reassuring but if that’s how you feel then okay**

**I support you**

**Pidgeon:**

**Fine but if you feel like you need to leave tell one of us**

**Big Bro:**

**We’re both here for you Keith**

**Samurai:**

**Yeah yeah thanks**

Keith put his phone down and got ready for bed. Once he finally got himself into bed it took him a long time to get to sleep. The sense of dread filled him even as he lost consciousness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost six o’clock. Keith had asked Hunk if he could bring anything and was now clutching onto a big bottle of soda. To say he was nervous was an understatement. He felt like he was walking around in a daze, not being able to focus on anything in particular. He had a bag with some of his general stuff in it and the coke but nothing else as he walked up to Hunk’s apartment building. 

Keith really didn’t want to go up by himself and have Lance answer the door, which Lance always does whenever he’s there. Keith stalled for a few minutes looking around to see if anybody was nearby. 

Finally, he sighed and reached to open the door when his name was called.

“Keith! Hold on a minute!” Keith turned around to see Shiro speed walking towards him with an unfamiliar woman following behind. The woman had dark skin and, strangely, white hair. She was wearing a pale-ish pink shirt with small black shorts. There was a jacket tied around her waist that didn’t do anything to hide the elegant sway she walked with. When Shiro made it to the door Keith raised an eyebrow at the woman. 

“Hey Shiro,” he said, still looking at the stranger. 

“Keith, this is my friend Allura. Allura this is my baby brother Keith.” Shiro smiled at both of them. 

“Nice to meet you,” Keith smacked Shiro in the side then stuck out his hand for her to shake. 

“You as well, Keith,” They shared a quick smile before Keith turned back to Shiro and gestured towards the door. 

“Should we go in?” Keith asked. Shiro nodded and opened the door for Allura and Keith. As Keith passed Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

“Are you sure?” Shiro questioned quietly. Keith took a moment to breathe before he nodded his head. 

They quickly made their way to Hunk’s door and knocked. Keith’s heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest. He tried taking deep breaths to calm himself, but before he could get far the door opened. 

There in front of him for the first time since their break up was Lance McClain. 

“Hey guys, come in!” Lance exclaimed. He was grinning as he moved out of the door way. Keith looked up to say thank you (because that was the polite thing to do when someone holds the door open for you) but stopped short when Lance looked at him at the same time. For a single moment they stood there staring at each other. Keith wouldn’t admit how much his heart sank when he saw Lance’s grin falter upon seeing him. In a flash the moment was over and Lance’s grin was back full force. The daziness Keith had earlier started to slowly wash over him again. 

He was abruptly pulled back to the presence when Hunk swept him up in a bear hug. Keith loved Hunk, he really did, but if you don’t get warned a Hunk hug is coming it can knock your breath out. 

“Yeah, nice to see you too again Hunk. Could you uh, put me down now?” Keith wheezed out. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Hunk let him go enough that he hit the ground, still trapping Keith with his arms. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you and I got excited!” Hunk cheerfully explained. 

Soon enough Pidge arrived and their night started. Hunk had set out the snacks just as Pidge had gotten there, but it took time for them to all agree on a movie to put on in the background. At some point during the movie picking process Keith had been asked to go bring cups and the Soda he brought to be placed with the snacks. 

While walking towards the kitchen he snagged some cookies to secretly eat once he was out of sight. Since he wasn’t paying attention to anything but his cookies, Keith failed to notice someone else enter the kitchen right after him. 

“Hey Keith,” Lance asked as he leaned his side against the counter, “how’ve you been lately?”

All Keith could think right then and there was, “Nope!” He turned away from Lance, realizing he had said that out loud. If Keith could make it back into Shiro and Pidges line of sight before Lance tried to talk again he would be spared from this nightmare. Moving faster to try to hasten his escape Keith knocked over the cups he was holding. 

Lance effectively swooped down and grabbed every cup on the floor besides the one Keith was reaching for. Then he stepped directly in front of Keith. Well, he guessed he was gonna have to deal with Lance at some point tonight. 

“What do you want Lance?” Keith raised his eyebrow impatiently. 

“Talk to me man, I thought we were good and now you’re acting all weird!” Keith couldn’t keep the shock off his face when he heard that. Lance broke his heart and then has the nerve to think they’re _good_?! Keith looked up to snap at his ex-boyfriend, but froze when he registered the worried look on the others face. 

Pushing down the emotions that threatened to erupt all over both of them, Keith straightened up and spoke again. He was careful to keep his face neutral.

“I’m just not feeling that great right now. I’ll get better as the night goes on.” Keith couldn’t look at Lance as he lied. He was still in disbelief at how well the taller boy acted like nothing had happened between them. Be that as it may, he couldn’t stand to see Lance look so upset, so lying would have to do.

Lance studied him for a few minutes before seemingly accepting this answer. He whispered a quick, “tell me if it gets worse,” before walking out of the kitchen. Keith tried not to think too much of what just occurred when he reappeared in the living room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I don't actually have any made schedule for when I write or post a chapter, but I've been pretty excited about this story which means I've been working on it a lot more. There is a specific scene that I haven't gotten to yet that was the inspiration for the entire plot that I can't wait to write, although I still need more build up before I get there. Can't wait until I get to it!


	4. A Step In The Right Or Wrong Direction?

As the night went on, Keith eventually found himself relaxing at the familiar environment. He didn’t talk much with Lance but the conversation never fell. Allura was a great addition to the group. She was a good combination of sweet and sassy. Lance had tried to flirt with her (to Keith’s horror) but stopped when Allura told him she was interested in someone else. 

Overall everything after the Kitchen Incident was nice. At least until a few hours later. They were all lounging around on the couches and chairs when Hunk got their attention. He got up to pause the boring movie they were watching, then proceeded to sit down right in front of the Tv to see everyone. 

“I have some news I actually wanted to tell you guys. I…” Hunk paused, obviously thinking through his words. Keith followed as each person slowly sat down on the floor to be levelled with Hunk. “I asked out Shay, and she said yes!” Hunk softly told them. The smile on his face revealed more of his joy than anything else. 

“Hunk that’s awesome!” Lance remarked. Keith let a smile take over his face. He knew that Hunk had been wanting to ask Shay out for a while, but was always too scared. He couldn’t be happier for Hunk.

“Yeah man, that’s really great. Didn’t we tell you she would say yes?” Keith added on.

“Yes! I knew she would, you go Hunk!” Pidge responded, taking a turn to hug him. 

“That’s fantastic,” was what Shiro said when it was his turn to embrace Hunk.

“Yes, I am glad that worked out!” Allura smiled brightly. A second later her face scrunched up. 

Shiro was of course the first person to take notice. “Is something wrong Allura?” he asked. 

“No, not really. I just noticed that Pidge has talked about how there’s no one she's interested in, Hunk told us about his girlfriend, you mentioned your boyfriend, and I mentioned I am interested in someone, but Keith and Lance haven’t said anything about that at all tonight. How come? From the stories you’ve told me aren’t all of you very open about that subject?” Allura inquired. 

Now, Keith knows that she probably has no idea he and Lance used to be an item. He does. He doesn’t know why he feels like he’s being put on the spot. Unable to stop himself, Keith looks over at Lance. Lance straightens up at Allura's words, briefly glancing at Keith before turning his attention back to the eldest female in the room. 

“I didn’t know how to bring it up, but I- I'm seeing someone. Her name is Nyma, she’s pretty cool and absolutely gorgeous,” Lance announced.

“That’s wonderful Lance,” Allura smiled at the new information, unaware of the silence that swept over everyone else but her and Lance. Unaware that the simple answer made it seem like the floor fell out from underneath Keith. 

He tried to clear his thoughts.

‘ _ I should have expected he’d be with someone else already. What did I think was going to happen? That he’d just come running back one day? Get over it already Kogane.’  _

When he felt okay enough to participate in the conversation again he looked up. Shiro and Pidge were gazing at him, appearing ready to jump over to him to help with whatever he asked for. Subtly he shook his head. He was not going to ruin this good evening by being upset that his  _ ex-boyfriend _ had moved on. He was not. Plus now he had one less reason to ignore the phone number he got from Ja-!

He paled at the sudden thought of the others finding out about James. He didn’t know what they would do if they knew. Nope, he could hide one tiny thing from them this one time. It didn’t matter that he was a bad liar he would be able to keep this to himself. 

“What about you Keith? Has anybody thrown their numbers at you recently?” Keith panicked at the very too accurate phrasing. His pale skin swiftly changed into a dark red as blood flushed his cheeks. 

“N-no!” Keith squeaked out. Nevermind on keeping that secret.

He could practically see Shiro’s head snap over to his direction. He briskly picked up his cup and chugged it until there was no more liquid left. He hoped that the conversation would move on while he was occupied, but no luck. As he settled his cup back onto the floor he refused to look up. He waited to see what would happen next while he fiddled with his fingers. Pidge spoke up first. 

“You got a number and didn’t bother to tell me?! The betrayal! Shiro did you know about this!?” Pidge said indignantly. 

Shiro raised his hands up in surrender, “I had no idea. Why don’t you tell us about this mysterious guy, Keith?” Keith went to argue but closed his mouth upon seeing the stern look on his brother's face. He sighed. 

“I was at my usual coffee shop, but the baristas switched out. The new guy was someone I used to know from middle and high school. He sat down with me after he got my order and we talked for a while. When he had to go back to work he gave me his number. That’s all.” Keith didn’t want this to be a big deal. He wasn’t sure if he was willing to call James yet. He just hoped Shiro didn’t ask who it was. 

“Who was it from school?” Dang.

“Uhhhhh-ummmm,” Keith stalled for a moment trying to come up with a lie. 

“Keith don’t try to lie, you suck at it,” darn his brother's extensive knowledge of him. “Just tell me who it is. I won’t drop this until you do.” 

“Well it was… jamesgriffin” Keith rushed out under his breath. Shiro didn’t move, continuing to stare at him until Keith started squirming. “Ugh fine! It was James Griffin alright!?” he huffed out agitatedly. Shiro’s jaw dropped while his friends tried to figure out where they heard that name before. 

“Oh! That kid in my English class!” Lance’s face lit up as the realization struck him, though it quickly dropped after a second. Pidge gaped at the new information. 

“Wait, but didn’t you two used to be enemies or whatnot?” she asked. 

“Yeah, we were, but he apologized while we were talking.”

“Good,” Shiro said seriously. “If he does anything like that again, remember that you don’t have to deal with it anymore.” 

“I know Shiro. But he’s changed a lot. He’s so much more mature now and we got along great.” Keith remembered their time together with a small smile. 

“Was he like that when he talked to you over the phone, too?” Allura wondered aloud. Keith turned away from them again. 

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t used the number.” Keith answered. 

“Why not?” This time it came from Hunk. 

Keith hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. “I’m not one hundred percent sure if I want a relationship right now. With all the… stress I’ve been under lately I just don’t know if it’s a good time.” Keith peered at Lance through his peripheral vision to see a thoughtful frown taking up the Cuban boy's usual smile. 

“Did he ask you on a date or ask you to get together again?” Hunk asked. 

“No he um- oh. He told me that he wanted to get to know me better.” It finally occurred to him that James had given him a choice, not an all or nothing deal. 

“Okay, but, are you sure he was actually into you in that way? That this isn’t all some big misunderstanding?” Lance proposed. The frown from earlier still taking residence on his face. Keith felt a spike of anger at the implications. 

“Yes Lance I’m almost positive that him telling me that he really liked me and kissing me on the cheek were signs that he is  _ into me that way, _ ” Keith irritatedly replied. 

“He kissed you!?” Shiro and Pidge yelled in tandem. 

“Just on the cheek!” Keith defended himself the best he could from the onslaught of pillows thrown at him. 

“You never told us if you were going to text him?” Hunk commented. 

“I want to, but I can’t decide if it’s worth the risk.” It was unsaid what the risk was, even though they all knew that Keith meant further heartbreak. 

“I think you should do it. Give him a chance Keith, he deserves that at least. Just tell him how you’re feeling and if he can’t handle it then maybe you’ll get a new friend instead,” Shiro gently encouraged. 

“Okay, I trust you Shiro. I’ll get in touch with him tomorrow,” He smiled shakily at his brother. Keith was glad to get some confirmation that what he wanted was okay, but that didn’t make him any less nervous. 

Keith was so distracted with Shiro’s warming reassurance and advice, he hadn’t paid attention to anything else. If he had, he might have noticed the clenched fists and the piercing blue eyes of the person diagonal of him, glaring at the floor. 

  
  



	5. Awkward Encounters

It’d been a few weeks since Keith first texted James. At first he’d felt awkward, but James made up for any lull in their conversations. After some convincing, James had persuaded Keith into going to the coffee shop during his breaks so they could hang out. 

While he and James had been spending more time together, Keith still felt conflicted about whether or not he wanted to date the brunette. Originally he’d been worried that James would leave when Keith confessed his troubles, but he was quickly proven wrong. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

_It was the second time Keith has seen James since he first texted him. They always had a good time, but Keith wasn’t over Lance yet. That, at least, he knew for sure. Even though he liked James, he didn’t know him well enough and didn’t feel anything nearly as much for him as he did for his ex. Keith felt it was best to be honest about his feelings with James so he wouldn’t lead the other on._

_They were seated at the same booth from their first coffee shop meet up. As James finished a story about some of the stupid things his friends have done (mostly caused by Nadia), Keith firgured it was a good time to tell him._

_The raven haired boy chuckled at the story before turning to look out the window. He took a breath to steady his nerves then looked back at the person in front of him._

_“So… James. I know that you said you liked me and that we’ve been hanging out lately, but I don’t think I’m ready to date anyone right now. You’re a really good person and I do like being around you, but I’m not going to lead you on by making you think that I’m up for something more serious. I’m sorry, things are complicated right now. That’s all I wanted to tell you, if you want to leave or whatever it’s okay. I get it.”_

_James looked at him for a moment, clearly thinking over what he wanted to say next. Slowly, he started to respond._

_“You know, just because you don’t want to go out with me doesn’t mean I’m going to leave. You’re a good guy and any time I’m with you is well spent. Thank you for telling me all that. I understand what you’re saying and I respect it, but, well. I can’t help noticing you never said you weren’t interested, only that you aren’t ready to date, right?” James asked._

_Keith sighed, crossing his arms and looking down at the table, “James-”_

_James cut him off before he could finish._

_“Okay, hear me out a moment before you start arguing with me.” He waited a moment for Keith to agree. After a nod he continued with his idea, “You’re talking about how you aren’t ready to date, which I get because of your jerk ex, but what if we didn’t go on dates. We could keep meeting here to get to know each other better. Not dates, so no pressure. Just you and me getting together to talk and maybe if one day we want to become more than that would be great, but if not I’ll respect your decision._ _Either way, I’m not gonna let you go off and leave forever simply because we’re not in a relationship._ _Would that be okay?” James finally finished off with a question._

_For a moment Keith thought about it. He didn’t want James to be let down if Keith never wanted to be with him, but he also brought up the option of them staying friends. In the end, he found there was no reason to say no._

_“Yeah, okay.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since that day things had been great between them. Him and James got along well, nothing like their past selves. Keith continued his daily routine of going to the coffee shop, the only difference was that he stayed a bit longer than usual. 

Still, whenever he thought about dating James, images of Lance pop into his head. He wanted it to stop. Lance didn’t care about him like that anymore and his stupid heart needed to accept that. 

Keith was deep in his thoughts as he headed to the coffee shop. So deep, in fact, that he wasn’t paying his surroundings any attention. Unfortunately, his carelessness ended when he slammed into another body, hard and abruptly enough that it sent him crashing down to the ground. 

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I was walking, then I turned around, but I thought no one else was here. I could have sworn there was no one in front of me when I turned, but obviously I was wrong. Here, let me help you up!”

Caught off guard by what happened the familiarity of the voice speaking rapidly to him came all too late. Keith gripped onto the hand that was thrust into his face for the (supposed) stranger to pull him up. Suddenly, his body was being yanked up, the jolt knocking down the hoodie Keith had pulled over his head to take cover from the morning sprinkle. 

Again he was slamming into the body in front of him. Keith quickly pulled back from the man to also apologize for the crash when he got a good look at the face inches away from his own. Tan skin, soft blue eyes and styled brown hair were the first things he noticed. 

‘ _Huh, he reminds me of Lance’_ Keith’s thought floated through his head for a few seconds when everything snapped into place. 

‘ _Oh no. Oh no no no no no no! That IS Lance!’_ That was all Keith could think before the boy, himself, spoke. 

“Keith?”

“Uh-um hi. Uh, hey Lance.” They stared at each other for a bit longer until Keith spoke again. “You mind l-letting me go now, Lance?” As Keith said it he raised the hand Lance was still clutching onto. 

Immediately, Lance let go, stepping back to create some room between them. 

“I’m guessing you're heading over to the coffee place?” Lance asked. 

“Yep. The best coffee in the whole city.” Lance smiled at Keith’s admission. It was that soft sort of smile that always got Keith to feel butterflies in his stomach. He gulped and looked away from that dangerous smile before he melted. 

“I was actually planning on going there too. Do you think I could join you? We haven’t gotten any time together recently, it would be great to catch up.” Lance offered. 

“Sorry, but recently I’ve been going there to meet someone.” Keith apologized, but in reality he just wanted to get out of there without a tag along. 

A look Keith couldn’t distinguish came over Lance’s features. 

“A date?” Lance questioned. 

Keith paused, “No, a friend.” 

The previous face the taller had made was taken over by a thoughtful look. 

“Well then tell your friend that you're cancelling for today. It’s that James guy isn’t it? You told us he works there and I know you go every day. Can’t you make an exception for one of your oldest pals?!” Lance pleaded, puppy eyes on at full max.

Keith gave him an incredulous look. “Lance I can’t do that, it’s rude.”

“C’mon Keith! You can’t tell him that just for today you want to hang out with your best buddy? Please Keith. Pleaseeee, pLeAsE, PLE-”

Keith cut Lance off with an annoyed eye roll. “Fine! Stop it. Let’s go.” 

He turned around, marching off down the sidewalk. Lance quickly caught up, walking in sync next to Keith. They were silent the rest of the way down to the coffee shop, both observing the other out of the corner of their eyes. 

When they reached the door Lance jumped in front of Keith to open it for him. Keith looked confused from the door to Lance’s face, silently asking why he was doing that when they weren’t dating anymore. Lance just blushed, impatiently gesturing at the door for Keith to walk in. 

The shop had a good amount of customers in it, but not enough to be overwhelming. There were a small number of people seated at the tables, a few more waiting in line and a couple at the counter. Keith’s heart was racing as they got closer and closer to the counter. He knew there wasn’t anything to be worried about, but that didn’t calm his racing heart. 

The line in front of them got shorter until they were finally stepping up to order. James was messing with something on the cash register. When he looked up, he first locked eyes with Keith. He looked as though he were about to smile when his attention shifted to the boy standing next to Keith. Immediately, the smile forming dropped into a frown of confusion. 

The smallest of the three cleared his throat. “Ahem, hey James.” James nodded at him, still obviously puzzled by Lance’s presence. “Uh, James you remember Lance right? And Lance, you remember James?” He looked to the two brunettes who were now staring intensely at one another. 

“Yeah of course. Good to see you McClain.” James politely said. 

Lance plastered a tight grin onto his face as he replied, “Yeah, you too… _Griffin_.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is shorter than Lance and James. No one will ever be able to convince me otherwise.


	6. Coffee Shop  Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY finished the chapter! I couldn't figure out which way I wanted this chapter to go at first, but this is what I ended up going with. I like how it turned out and I hope you guys do too! Enjoy~

Keith awkwardly looked down at his hands, fiddling nervously with his fingers. He heard James clear his throat from in front of him.

“What’ll you be having today?” James asked while still scrutinizing him and Lance. 

Lance stepped forward, unsubtly stepping a bit in front of Keith. Keith frowned at the movement. Why was Lance being so confusing?

“Ah yes, I will have a vanilla latte,” Lance said. When Keith kicked his ankle he quickly added, “-please.”

James plugged in the order and turned back to Lance. 

“Alright, that’ll be-” 

“Keith hasn’t ordered yet.” 

Suddenly all attention was on Keith. Lance, who had already taken his wallet and was holding money in his hand, was ordering for himself  _ and  _ Keith. Was it just him or was that weird? 

‘ _ Why does he want to pay for my drink? He’s not my boyfriend anymore,’  _ Keith bitterly thought to himself. Nevertheless, he felt heat radiate off his face from embarrassment. 

Keith turned his head away, willing the blush to go down. After a moment he moved to face the other two and shook his head. 

“Uh- thank you, but I’ll pay for myself.” Lance opened his mouth, looking entirely like he was going to argue, but Keith interrupted before he could. “I can pay for myself Lance. Go ahead and pay, you can find us a place to sit while I order.” 

Lance frowned at him, obviously displeased with Keith’s decision. He paid then went off to one of the booths. As soon as he was gone Keith whirled around to James. 

“I’m sorry! I ran into him on the way here and I couldn’t convince him not to come along. We can hang out after though. If it takes too long I could wait for your shift to be over?” Keith offered. He felt really bad that he let Lance intrude on their plans. 

James was silent for a few seconds. His brows furrowed in thought as he glanced between Keith and Lance, who in turn was impatiently looking between James and Keith. 

“Are you and Lance… you know… together again?” James finally asked. Keith’s eyes widened as he heard the question. He shook his head with a quiet scoff. 

“No, definitely not,” Keith shot that notion down quickly. “This is only the second time I’ve seen him since the… uh- well,” Keith gestured desperately with his hands, not wanting to bring up the hurtful breakup. 

When he looked up to meet James’ eyes, there was a curious look on his face. He blinked and the expression was gone. James typed out Keith’s usual as he responded. 

“Okay, but Keith?” James got Keith’s attention. “Alright, I know it was a while ago and that he was the one who ended it but, look, the way he was acting just now? That wasn’t ex-boyfriend or old friend behavior,” James warned. Keith took a deep breath knowing he had been thinking the same thing. Before he had a chance to say so, James continued. “I’d still like to hang out with you today, if you and him take a while we can meet after my shift. It ends at twelve.” 

Keith nodded in agreement. He paid, then braced himself for the disaster that was talking to Lance. Lance had chosen Keith’s regular booth. He must have remembered from when they used to go to coffee dates. 

Hesitantly, Keith sat down across from the other boy, his mind racing on what to do now that they were alone at the table together. A cough caught his attention. 

“So, did Hunk ever tell you how he ended up asking Shay out?” asked Lance in an attempt to break the tension. There were a million things Keith wanted to ask, but didn’t know how. Although, maybe… maybe he didn’t want to know anyway. Maybe it would be better if never did.

“No, there’s a story to it?” Keith raised an eyebrow in question. Lance grinned, laughing slightly as he presumably remembered the story. The brunette leaned forward, putting both arms in front of him on the table with his telltale smirk. 

“Oh yeah, there’s a story.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laughing. 

He was laughing and having a good time. 

With Lance. 

It was almost bittersweet, to have yearned for this for so long and to get it, but not the way Keith truly wanted. No. No he had to stop this. Getting over Lance was the only way to help himself. The only realistic way. Okay, it was definitely bittersweet.

“Are you serious?! I can’t believe Hunk! That’s crazy,” Keith cackled. 

“I know right!? I was so happy I was there to film it all, even if the leaves and branches were really annoying,” Lance shrugged. 

“That’s why trees are a better hiding spot, Lance, everyone knows that! Bushes take too much effort,” Keith exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. 

Lance sniggered at him. A moment of silence followed where Lance just looked at him, smiling. Keith’s eyebrows scrunched, he lowered his head until his bangs blocked his eyes. 

“Is there something on my face?” Keith asked self consciously. Lance seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in, his eyes blowing wide open and looking everywhere but Keith. 

“No! N-nope, you look- you-,” Lance stopped and visibly took a breath. At last, he got out a full sentence, “You look fine, Keith.” Lance paused, but after a second opened his mouth to speak once more. 

“Keith, I-” Lance was cut off before he could finish. 

“Keith! Lance!” they heard. Keith checked the counter to see if James was who called their names. After seeing it was, he turned back to Lance. 

“I’ll go get the drinks, stay here.” 

Keith jumped up and walked to the counter. James was standing right on the other side, waiting to greet him. 

“How’s it going?” James subtly nodded towards the booth Lance was still sitting in. 

“Better than I thought it would, actually. We’ve just talked about a mutual friend so far, it felt… nice,” Keith noted, feeling content. James shot him a charming smile that made his face heat up a little. 

“Good, I’m glad.” 

James slid his hand forwards toward where Keith’s was resting on the counter. His breath hitched with a little gasp at the sudden contact. James’ hand felt warm on top of his own and when the barista’s fingers curled around his, he felt a swirling in his stomach. It was undeniably a good feeling, but there was something off that Keith couldn’t quite place. 

He raised his head, only to see James studying him. Like he was making sure this was okay. Keith took a breath when he saw the other boy slowly lean in closer. 

_ ‘Is James going to- is he going to kiss me?!’  _ Keith thought.  _ ‘Should I ask?’ _

“James wh-”

* _ BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEP*  _

The loud sound echoed through the cafe, making almost every jump, including Keith and James who both straightened up at the interruption. Keith whipped around with the rest of the customers and staff to the source of the sound. Lance. 

Lance stared back at Keith for a split second with an unreadable expression before turning to the other patrons in the cafe with a bright smile. 

“I am SO sorry everyone, I completely forgot about that alarm! Don’t worry though, I’ll double check that I don’t have any other alarms accidentally on. Again, sorry, have a good day!” After a few grumbles of complaint everyone went back to what they were previously doing. Lance, however, hopped up from his seat and sauntered over to where Keith and James were still gaping at him. “Sorry again about that, hope I didn’t interrupt anything over here,” Lance apologized with a cheerful tone. 

Keith felt an arm drape around his shoulders. He tensed and looked at Lance in suspicion. 

_ ‘What the heck is going on with Lance!?!?’  _ Keith thought furiously. 

“Oh look, our drinks! Well, don't want them to go to waste,” Lance grabbed his drink off the counter, simultaneously nudging the other drink towards Keith. “Thanks for the drinks Griffin! Don’t keep that customer waiting too long, it’d be bad for business,” Lance advised, using his hand with the drink in it to indicate the customer that was now waiting in front of the ordering counter. 

With that Lance dragged Keith back to the booth, practically pushing him into the seat once they got there. Keith took a moment to properly settle into his seat. Then, he proceeded to glare at Lance who pretended not to notice, sipping his drink with an innocent face. 

“Lance! What was that all about?” Keith hissed. 

“What? I just wanted my drink!” Lance defended himself. 

“OH? And getting your drink required you to manhandle me!?” 

“Well I wouldn’t have had to if you had just gotten the drinks instead of getting all cozy with Griffin,” Lance mumbled. Keith felt his annoyance flare up at that. 

“Lance I was supposed to be hanging out with James right now, but I moved that back because you wanted to catch up a bit. You’re lucky that I’m even sitting with you right now! Besides, me being cozy with James is none of your concern. Why does he bother you so much?” Keith argued. 

“He doesn’t! I just- ugh forget it,” Lance sighed. The brunette stared down at the table, frustration written all over his face, though what about, Keith had no idea. Eventually Lance slumped back into his seat. “I’m sorry,” Lance admitted quietly. Keith watched him pensively before sighing as well. 

“It’s okay.” 

The taller boy scratched the back of his neck nervously before clearing his throat. 

“Um, so, another reason I wanted to talk to you today was to invite you to this party I’m going to with Nyma. I’m going to invite the rest of the gang too, of course. Bumping into you just seemed like a good time to talk about it, so.” Keith couldn’t help the way his heart seemed to jump into his throat at the mention of Nyma. He didn’t want to meet her, not really. He didn’t want to know the person Lance apparently thought was better to date than him. Keith was about to reject the offer when he got an idea. He turned to face Lance straight on. 

“Can I invite James?” 

Lance’s hopeful expression darkened but nonetheless he nodded. 

“Of course, invite whoever you want.” 

Keith took a calming breath and replied. 

“Alright, I’ll ask James and let you know what I end up doing.”

Lance smiled softly, a smile that had always been reserved for Keith alone, albeit now a little strained. 

“I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO close to the part of the story that inspired this whole thing- the party. I'm so excited for the rest of this story! yay


End file.
